Frank Myler (4 December 1938 – 27 March 2020) was an English former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 1970s and 1980s. A

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

national representative or , he played at club level for

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

and St. Helens, and also captained and coached

Playing career

Myler played left- and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

' 13–5 victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

in the 1963–64 Challenge Cup Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 9 May 1964, in front of a crowd of 84,488. Myler played left- in St. Helens' 30–2 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

in the 1968–69 Lancashire Cup Final at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

on Friday 25 October 1968. Myler played at left- in St. Helens' 4–7 defeat by

in the

1968 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

Final at Central Park,

on Tuesday 17 December 1968. In the 1969–70 Northern Rugby Football League season's Championship Final Myler was voted

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

winning the

Harry Sunderland Trophy The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final. Named after Harry Sunderland, who was an Australian rugby league football administrator in both Australia and the United Kingdom, the Troph ...

in St. Helens 24–12 victory over

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. In 1970, he captained the Lions squad. Following a heavy defeat in the first Test the Lions under Myler did not lose another game on the whole tour. Myler remains the last British captain to lift the Ashes trophy in Australia. He played in the 4–7 defeat by

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

in the

1970–71 Lancashire Cup The 1970–71 Lancashire Cup was the fifty-eighth staging of the tournament. Leigh won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 7–4 in the final. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, ( historically in the county of Lanc ...

Final at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 28 November 1970. Myler left St. Helens in 1971 to take up the position of

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

with the

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

from May 1971 until October 1974.

Coaching career

After three seasons at Rochdale where he took the team to the Players No 6 trophy final, although they lost 27–16 to

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, Myler succeeded

Vince Karalius Vincent "Vince" Peter Patrick Karalius (15 October 1932 – 13 December 2008), also known as "the Wild Bull of the Pampas", was an English rugby league footballer, and coach. He played as a loose forward, and was part of the Great Britain sq ...

as Widnes coach in May 1975. In May 1978 he was succeeded as Widnes coach by

Doug Laughton Charles Douglas Laughton (born 13 May 1944) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He played at representative level for Great Britain ( ca ...

. After periods coaching at Oldham and Swinton Myler was appointed Great Britain coach in 1983 but after some early successes the team lost all six test matches to Australia and New Zealand during the 1984 Great Brian Lions tour and despite a win over Papua New Guinea in the last test of the tour Myler was not reappointed as coach. Thereafter, he returned to club coaching with Oldham and a second spell at Widnes. Myler coached

for one fixture beating

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

60-13 on 28 May 1978. Myler was one of the original thirteen former Widnes players inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 1992. Myler died on 27 March 2020 after a long illness, aged 81.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at rugby.widnes.tv
*(archived by web.archive.org
Hall of Fame at rugby.widnes.tvHall of Fame at rugby.widnes.tv
*(archived by web.archive.org

*(archived by web.archive.org
Kiwis open British tours…Search for "Frank Myler" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myler, Frank 1938 births 2020 deaths England national rugby league team coaches England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team coaches Great Britain national rugby league team players Oldham R.L.F.C. coaches Rugby league players from Widnes Rochdale Hornets coaches Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths St Helens R.F.C. players Swinton Lions coaches Widnes Vikings coaches Widnes Vikings players